Leonidas
Leonidas is ready to fulfill his duty! '' ''- Leonidas, ready for war. Introduction The Leonidas is a giant assault mech developed by the United States Army, it serves as General Ironside's super unit and is currently the most powerful unit in Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour: Contra, and is equivalent to the Shogun Executioner from Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3. Overview Due to the heavy cuts on US military spending, Ironside received less funds for his military technology research. Therefore, he decided that instead of reducing or removing some features in new units, over a half of the funds should be used to make a single unit so powerful and durable that it could take down an enemy base, or even conquer a country within a month, by investing in the mech's design and some recycling efforts (its laser cannon is from the old SDI Cannon and the high caliber cannons are based on the ones from his battleship). Thus, the Leonidas was born. This mech's creation has led the USA to victory in many retaliation battles against the GLA, but its sheer size has terrorized many civilians in areas where this mech was engaged (there is even a video uploaded on Youtube about this mech walking over the person who recorded the video), so eventually it just sits as a "Trump Card" for Ironside. According to official statements by the Secretary of Defense, the Leonidas is considered as USA's ultimate war machine but its manufacturing costs are so high (approx. 5 billion USD per unit) that there are only three of these super combat mechs in the world: one is located at Fort Knox, Kentucky, for Ironside's personal use, one is stored in the Pentagon's underground - near Washington D.C. - and ready to be deployed in case of an attack there and the third is currently deployed in the Middle East since the start of the Second GLA War. Unlike all other super units, the Leonidas is too big to be built by a War Factory, instead it needs to be built by a Dozer like a structure. You can build Leonidas if you have reached Rank 5 and built your ICBM Silo. The Leonidas is an ultra-heavy all purpose breakthrough warfare unmanned mech that consists of a giant turret shaped like a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird serving as the upper body mounted on a quadrupedal platform. The mech appears to be powered by a highly advanced cold fusion reactor, judging from the various control rods protruding from its engine. It uses its enormous legs to move, powered by advanced hydraulic systems that make it surprisingly fast for a giant heavy mech. It has a driver compartment on the right side of the main turret to control the mech's movements. It has even advanced AI systems to keep fighting even in case the connection with the main base is cut off (as evidenced in the very end of Ironside's Challenge). The Leonidas is armed with a variety of deadly weapons: * Two high caliber cannons, it fires three salvos of AT shells against ground units and structures. * A triple-barrelled laser cannon that fires a continuous laser blast against ground units and structures. (This weapon is actually the old SDI Cannon) * Two Patriot missile batteries. One mounted under the turret's "chin" and the other mounted on top of the two cannons. Both fire Patriot missiles to destroy land and air units. * A quad anti-air machine gun turret, mounted on top of the main turret. It fires a steady stream of AA bullets to mow down aircraft. * Two small machine guns, mounted on the front edge of the turret. These guns are used to deal with any infantry that tries to attack it underneath. * While not a real weapon, its enormous size allows it to crush everything that gets in the way of the mech's legs. With the power of all these weapons combined, Leonidas can make short work of pretty much every unit, from basic infantry, to super heavy tanks like Overlords and Mammoths. It can single handedly take out any super unit like the Zhu Rong or Karkadann in a one on one combat. Most artillery don't pose much threat either, as Leonidas' lasers and cannons have very long firing range. And if all of that isn't bad enough, Leonidas' durability will make it borderline unstoppable. A test was conducted by YouTuber F12 Cyberforce, in which he used: * The Particle Cannon * The Tomahawk Storm * The ICBM * Level 3 A-10 Strike * Carpet Bombing * High Explosive Bomb * EMP Bomb against the Leonidas (WITHOUT Composite Armor upgrade), and only managed to disable it and take out around 50% of its health. How To Destroy It ? The Leonidas is the final hurdle every player must face should he/she wishes to defeat General Ironside. Its formidable firepower and nigh unbreakable armor makes it a daunting, but not impossible task. * The simplest and most direct method is brute force, Leonidas will not appear until all of Ironside's production facilities are destroyed, so simply eliminate most of Ironside's base and use the calm before the storm to build up an army of your best units and reload your super weapons. * Build many airfields and fill them up with your best strike fighters. If you have access to General Ironside’s arsenal, focus on building Aurora Alphas. * A shapeless blob of tanks is not as effective as tanks combined with artillery, as the tanks in the back of the formation won't be able to do anything except wait for their turn to get pulverized. * Leonidas is highly resistant, but NOT immune, to EMP (immune to EMP Tower, though). Be warned that the Leonidas is IMMUNE TO ECM AND MICROWAVE, as it's a considered both a super weapon and a vehicle. * Black Lotus can deactivate it, but it works for about 10-15 seconds so you'll need her on standby to disable it again and again. * Leonidas' AI is flawed, when it's surrounded by enemy units, it will become confused and will simply stand there and do nothing like it's experiencing a heroic BSOD. So rushing the mech with your best tanks might just do the trick. Leonidas will either appear from the north east or from the north west, so before you're ready to face it, station a battalion at each of the possible spawn locations. Assessment Pros: * Contra's most powerful super unit. * The toughest unit in the game, literally a "one mech army". * Extremely powerful weapons. * Effective against everything. * Long firing range. * Extremely durable. Can be made even more durable with Composite Armor upgrade. * Can be upgraded with drones to increase effectiveness. * Detects stealth. * Repaired very quickly by the War Factory. * Can crush any unit by simply walking over it, doesn't crush any allied units. * Can attack multiple units at once. * Surprisingly mobile for such an enormous mech. * Once it has started construction, it'll be difficult to stop the process, as Leonidas is extremely durable and it shields the dozer that's building it underneath its body. * Can gain veterancy, despite being a unmanned mech. * As a super unit, and more importantly as an unmanned super unit, it cannot be hijacked or depiloted. Cons: * Outrageously expensive ($40,000) * Excruciatingly long build time (7 minutes) * Not exactly fast. * Gains veterancy extremely slowly, you'll likely have to demolish an entire enemy base to gain just one rank. * A very late game unit, requires all three of General Ironside's super weapons to build. * Not very effective against jets, due to the slow traversal speed of its turret and long reload time of its missiles. * Stealth detection range is quite short, so it may not react fast enough to stealthed suicide units. * Only one can exist for one player, regardless of Tournament mode. * Vulnerable against constantly re-stationed artillery vehicles. * Can be disabled by EMP and Black Lotus. Quotes Before 009 FINAL Patch 2, Leonidas' quotes consisted of distorted electronic buzzing which is used by the Cybernetic Commando. When Created * Leonidas is ready to fulfill his duty! When Selected * King and warrior. * Leonidas. * USA's ultimate war machine. * Size matters. * Their hearts will be filled with fear! * America's best shieldwall. * Command me. * Who must be eliminated? * My mission is all. * Infantry, vehicles, aircrafts: I can take everything! * One Man Army. Correction: One Robot Army. * My enemies are many, my equals are none. When Ordered to Move * Leonidas advancing. * Yes, Commander. * Confirmed. * New location acquired. * Let's get closer. * Forward. * The battlefield is calling me... * This will be my Thermopylae! * Nothing can stop me! * Soon, blood will be shed... * I will do what I must. When Ordered to Attack * It is time. * Face me, you coward! * THIS IS AMERICA! * Fear me! * Die, you scum! * They're nothing! * Is that an army? Pathetic... * You there! * They will fall! * Taste my wrath! * What's the matter? Are you scared? * All firepower engaged. * It will be all over soon... Trivia * Leonidas means "Son of the Lion" in Greek; it is named after Leonidas Ist, the Warrior-King of a city-state known as Sparta. The Spartan king died in 480 B.C. at the Battle of Thermopylae, along with 300 other warriors, against the overwhelming Persian army, led by Prince Xerxes Ist. ** This is likely a reference on how the mech will likely meet its end in General Ironside's challenge: destroyed by an overwhelmingly large enemy army. * A Fallout Brotherhood of Steel emblem can be found on the mech's "forehead". * Considering the fact that it is one of the only two unmanned units capable of gaining veterancy, it is possible that Leonidas is sentient or self-aware in some ways, much like Saturn (although Saturn isn't really unmanned). * The quote "THIS IS AMERICA!" refers to the famous "THIS IS SPARTA!" shouted by the protagonist of the movie ''300 -'' a history movie with Ancient Greece background - played by the Scottish actor Gerard Butler. Gallery Leonidas in action.png|Leonidas in action Category:USA Arsenals Category:USA Structures Category:Super Unit Category:Mechs